This morning we headed down to Kyrenia (Girne) after breakfast because we had an appointment at Kibtek, the electricity supplier in Northern Cyprus.  We were meeting there with our neighbours because we have a joint project with Kibtek to move some electricity poles to different positions on our land.  There’s nothing amiss with our pole but our neighbour’s is now about 3 inches too near their pool under new regulations and if one pole has to move, so does the other.  It’s good really as we prefer the new proposed location.  After much signing of paperwork, the documents have now moved to Nicosia (Lefkosa) for official acceptance by Kibtek and then they will quote us a price and then we can get the job done.  Yes!  In Cyprus YOU pay to move poles put up by the supplier even if they put them up wrongly.  And its not cheap.  We’re waiting to hear, but the rumour is it could be £2000 or thereabouts.  Part of the fun of owning property in foreign parts.  Having said that, our council tax is a pittance compared to the UK, about the equivalent of one month, and for that we get a weekly garbage collection as well as other normal services.

After our brush with officialdom, we were in need of a coffee so we went to The George in the top square of Kyrenia.  They do a good cuppa there and also very nice pub style food.  Then, on we went to drop off some legal work at our lawyer in town, to Telsim to get the new sim working, and then to a diy store (a yapi market as they are known here) for two new ball cocks for the water tank and the pool overflow tank, both of which have rusted up over the winter.

Got home around lunchtime and were just having a bite on the terrace when Rick, our pool guy, turned up for one of his twice weekly visits.  He normally comes Tuesday and Friday.  Anyway, today he had is little Jack Russell, Buddy, with him!  So cute.  We had a bit of a catch up, discussed some minor upkeep tasks that Bob will do while we are here. We are now allowed to fill our pool from the mains again, as per the garden watering systems, because of the plentiful Turkish water.  For about 9 years, this was forbidden and we had to have water delivered by tanker for the pool, and let the garden take its chance over the long summer months.  Needless to say, the garden wasn’t exactly thriving, and you had to be very careful what you planted.

So, this afternoon Bob, fitted the new ballcock to the garden watering tank and we prepared to fit one to the pool balance tank.  Both hold around 5 tonnes of water.  In order not to waste any, we juggled the piping and valves and managed empty the garden tank by watering the garden, and then filled the garden tank from the pool tank.  Bob will have to get inside that to fit the new ballcock and also do a few repairs around the various pipes where there are small drip leaks.  We wouldn’t be without our lovely pool for the world, but pool maintenance is a bit of a black art and as endless as painting the Forth Road bridge.  We never (touch wood twice and thrice!) have had any trouble with the actual main pool but the balance tank, the overflow gulley and the various filters and valves all need annual maintenance to keep it running smoothly.

Marion, our friend and house manager, came up this afternoon for a catch up over a cup of tea.  Nice to see her again.  She’s a total treasure and all the guests really love the depth of knowledge she has of the island.

Tonight we decided to eat out.  We decided to go local and casual and that meant our go-to Cypriot restaurant, Tervetuloa.  It’s about 10 minutes in the car at the bottom of the hill.  We’ve been going there for about 13 years, ever since we first came to Cyprus.  It has always been a family restaurant and small guesthouse.  In the beginning the father was in charge, a lovely old chap who would come out to welcome you amid much handshaking.  Sadly, he died about 8 years ago and his daughter took over.  She’s really brought the place on and still comes around with a hug and a welcome whenever you arrive and however long the gap has been.  The food hasn’t changed either.  The premise is that you pick your main dish which could be kleftiko, lamb chops, chicken kiev, mixed grill, fish, etc etc and there is a price against that dish which determines the cost of the meal.  So, mixed grill is £10.35, chicken Kiev is £8 etc.  For that price you get: a bottle of water, bread basket, 10 cold meze dishes, 3 hot meze dishes, a basket of chips, a bowl of salad, your main dish, a dessert plate, coffee and a brandy or liqueur of your choice.  Honestly, how can you go wrong.  The meze are always changing, whatever’s fresh that morning.  So tonight we had beetroot, humus, tzatziki, babaganoush, white bean salad, couscous salad, potato salad, white cheese, red cabbage, cheese coleslaw.  The hot meze was meatballs, fried halloumi, chicken livers with onions.  For mains, I had lamb chops (5) served with wild rice and of course the salad bowl and chip basket.  Bob had kleftiko.  We were totally stuffed at the end, having washed it all down with 2 g&ts (me), the water and a beer, pls of course the coffee and brandies..  It came to about £!5 each.  We’ll definitely go back whilst we are here at least once.  You never get a bad meal and its a lovely atmosphere whether you eat in their garden or inside the restaurant.  Definitely recommended!